General Motors is accused by a Georgia attorney of knowingly delaying a recall of two model vehicles that had defects which ultimately led to the deaths of at least six people.
The attorney, Lance Cooper, said at least one GM engineer informed the company in 2004 that its Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 models had ignition switch defects that could be shaken from their “on” positions, CNN reported.
When the ignition shifted from “on,” the power steering and braking assistance would fail. If the vehicle crashed, the airbags would deploy.
The company didn’t initiate a recall of 778,000 of the models until mid-February, after six people had died in accidents related to the defect, Mr. Cooper charges in court documents.
GM has already admitted that at least six have died from defect-related crashes, according to CNN.
Mr. Cooper is representing the family of a woman killed in 2010 while driving a 2005 Cobalt, CNN reported. Her vehicle was among the models that were recalled.
GM declined to comment due to the ongoing status of the suit, according to CNN.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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